Greatest Honour

We sometimes talk of the moment in a young horse's career when the bulb switches on. When the resulting illumination is as brilliant as was the case with Greatest Honour (Tapit) at Gulfstream last Saturday, however, it feels as though the whole sport can bask in the glow. Those few strides in the GIII Holy Bull S. when he clicked into top gear, before running clear in the stretch, not only announced his own candidature but cast into exciting new perspective the whole road to Churchill on the first Saturday...

The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton In a departure from recent seasons, homebreds are dominating the GI Kentucky Derby trail through the early portion of the 2021 prep-race season. In the TDN Derby Top 12 that will be published in the Feb. 2 edition, no fewer than seven of the leading dozen race for the same owners who planned their matings, raised them as foals, and got those colts into the starting gate. That 7-of-12 ratio is as high a number of homebreds within the Top 12 at any...

Saturday's 12-race program at Gulfstream Park, topped by Greatest Honour (Tapit)'s powerful victory in the GIII Holy Bull S., set a new record for handle for the program. Total handle on the afternoon was $21.87 million, eclipsing the previous record of $19.775 set in 2017 and surpassing last year's total handle by 20%. "It was a wonderful day of racing, and we want to thank the fans and the horsemen for supporting our program," said Aidan Butler, Chief Operating Officer of 1/ST Racing. "Congratulations to Greatest Honour and all of...

Courtlandt Farm homebred Greatest Honour (Tapit) still hasn't quite figured things out completely, but the immaculately bred bay maintained his upward mobility and made the most of his raw ability to post a handy victory in Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream Park, earning 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby in the process. Recent California transfer Tarantino (Pioneerof the Nile) attended the pace and stuck on for second ahead of 'TDN Rising Star' Prime Factor (Quality Road). Greatest Honour made a pair of starts over seven...

'TDN Rising Star' Prime Factor (Quality Road), a blowout maiden winner sprinting on debut at Gulfstream Dec. 12, heads straight to the big leagues in Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S. The WinStar Farm and CHC Inc. colorbearer, a $900,000 Keeneland September yearling, worked a bullet five furlongs in :59 4/5 (1/13) at Todd Pletcher's Palm Beach Downs base Jan. 23 in preparation of his two-turn debut. Prime Factor is out of a half-sister to fellow 'Rising Stars' Speightster (Speightstown) and West Coast Swing (Gone West) as well as SW Paiota...

How aptly we talk of our walk of life as the Turf. Because raising a horse is just like raising a lawn. Take a microscope out there, if you like, but no human being has actually seen grass grow. Yet one morning toward the end of winter, the birdsong sounds different and you realize you left your coat on the peg without thinking about it. And you look at that lawn and, no argument, it's time to take the mower out of its stable. That moment remains a long way...